On Wednesday, February 25, Bucknell was visited by Genesis Butler, an Afro-Indigenous animal rights and climate activist from Long Beach, California. Genesis is the great-niece of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. She has accomplished a lot in her 19 years; Genesis became the youngest person to give a Ted Talk at age ten. She recounted the beginning of her animal rights journey at the lunch talk today, recalling her decision to become vegetarian at age three. “I asked my mom where my food came from, and I didn’t like the answer”, she says. By age six, she had decided to go completely vegan, and Genesis owes her success in maintaining the lifestyle to her mother, who went vegan with her. Eventually, her entire family had adopted the diet.
Attendees asked Butler what steps she recommends to beginner activists. She encouraged students to contact officials and to ask authority figures, like professors, to advocate on behalf of their students if they are not being listened to. Genesis recalled her earliest experience with activism in grade school, when her class took a field trip to the circus. Unhappy with the abuse at the circus, she asked her teachers to advocate for a cruelty-free field trip. It was this early interest in animal rights that eventually led her to climate activism, as she realized the two subjects frequently overlap.
She also shared her perspective on making veganism and plant based diets more accessible to less privileged communities, acknowledging that without proper resources such a diet is unattainable. She spoke of using social media to reach a broader audience, expressing that not everyone interested in improving the environment has access to a space like Bucknell which might host these kinds of events. She also talked about her involvement with the nonprofit Support and Feed, owned and operated by Maggie Baird (mother of Billie Eilish), which supports communities affected by wildfires by providing them with plant-based food. The nonprofit aims to combat food insecurity and climate change at the same time by providing free plant based meals.
Students from the River Valley Nature School attended and asked, “What do you want the future to be like for children?”. Butler responded that she hopes future generations will not have to rely on children for activism. Instead, she hopes that the climate situation will improve so that future generations of children will be able to go to school, play sports, and focus on childhood without worrying about issues like global warming.
-Lily Hebda